History: Winifred Cicely Rayner, 1906-1988, was born in Hallowell, Ontario, the daughter of English immigrants. She studied at the Salvation Army Training College in Kenora in 1926 and received her officer's commission (equivalent to ordination) in 1927. She served with the Salvation Army in various places in prairie Canada for four years, then in 1931 was transferred to Sunset Lodge, a seniors' home in Winnipeg. In 1936 she married Richard Charles Russell Boyes (called Russell). Russell, 1900-1995, was born in Huntsville, Ontario. He served in the Salvation Army from 1922 to 1945. They had three children, Joan (McDonnell), 1938- , Russell, 1944- , and Doug, 1946- . In 1945 they left the Salvation Army and joined the Church of the Nazarene. In 1948 the family moved to Calgary, Alberta, where Russell worked at a variety of jobs. They were active in the North Hill Nazarene Church, and later the South Calgary Nazarene Church when they moved to that part of the city.

Scope and Content: The fonds consists of personal correspondence, predominantly with their families and each other (1919-1987); Russell's Salvation Army correspondence (1922-1945), officer's diary (1937), Bible lessons papers (1924-1926), and various notebooks (1920s-1940s); Winifred's Salvation Army correspondence (1921, 1925-1938, 1945), Bible lessons notes (1926-1927), and officer's diary (1935); various Salvation Army programs; and family photographs (1919-1980s). Includes panoramic photographs of Salvation Army annual congresses (1923, 1924).